Directions and Maps

Parking and Other Options

All visitors must enter the NIH Gateway Center main visitor entrance at NIH Gateway Drive.

Parking at NLM (Parking Map) is extremely limited and expensive. The parking charges for the Gateway Parking Garage are $2/hr. for the first three hours or $12.00 for the entire day. NIH Security requires inspection of all vehicles.

Park in Bethesda

Public parking garages in Bethesda (Bethesda Parking Map) are reasonably priced. Lot 35 (click on Lot Number for parking rates) is a 15 minute walk from NLM. Walk north on Woodmont, cross Battery Lane and proceed ahead to Wisconsin Ave/Rockville Pike (Rte. 355). NLM is on the left, set on a small hill. Perimeter fence prohibits entry except at Center Drive. See NIH Campus map.

Take Metro

The Metro’s Medical Center stop (Red Line) is a few minutes’ walk from NLM. At the top of the Metro escalator, walk straight, past the bus stops, and enter the Visitor Center Gateway. At the Gateway, you will have to show ID and put your bags on a conveyor belt, for screening. You will then be issued an identification badge. After exiting the Gateway Center, turn left, walk down the ramp and turn left to walk up an asphalt path to a concrete sidewalk. Along the way, there are signs directing you to the National Library of Medicine (Bldg 38) or the Lister Hill Center (Bldg 38A).

To enter the Library or Lister Hill Center, visitors must show the identification badge obtained from the Visitor's Center at NIH entrance. Those requiring ramped wheelchair access may also enter at the North Loading Dock. Everyone must let NLM guards inspect bags, briefcases, packages, and handbags at inspection points. Inspection points are at: the Main Entrance to the Library; the entrance to the Lister Hill Center; the North Loading Dock.

Park Off-Campus

Another option, though more time-consuming, is off-campus parking at Mid-Pike Plaza. Shuttle buses run from Mid-Pike Plaza to the NIH campus and stop at NLM.

Nurses and nursing have been the frequent subjects of postcards. Pictures of Nursing: The Zwerdling Postcard Collection examines how these postcard images are informed by cultural values; ideas about women, men, and work; and by attitudes toward class, race, and national differences. Pictures of Nursing presents a selection of historic postcards from NLM's recently-acquired Zwerdling postcard collection, spanning a century of nursing imagery. Pictures of Nursing investigates the hold these images exert on the public imagination—then and now.